The recent announcement of the cast for the (still untitled) Super Mario Bros. movie raised some eyebrows. Some of the most famous comedic actors will voice the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom, though fans are skeptical at best about Chris Pratt voicing Mario. But one cast member most agree is a good fit is Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach.
She wowed audiences in 2015’s The VVitch and went on to impress in Split, Glass, and in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. She’ll next be seen in Edgar Wright’s time-shifting horror movie Last Night in Soho, which arrives later this week. But it seems right now she’s getting into the headspace of gaming’s most perennially kidnapped Princess.
Now, in a new interview with Entertainment Tonight, she revealed the fun way she’s researching the role:
Oh, it is so much fun. We started doing little bits and pieces of it already. The greatest part is that I get to say I am doing homework or work or research just by gaming, which is pretty great. I have to. The fan base is so intense, of course, I have to do it. It’s so much fun.
Most people will know by now that Peach isn’t just a damsel in distress. Over her career, she’s demonstrated her golfing and tennis skills, is an absolute demon in a go-kart (if you’re into the whole acceleration over speed thing), and is a veteran Smash Bros. combatant.
Her character was also fleshed out a little more in Super Mario Odyssey, in which we see Bowser and Mario proposing to her and her turning them both down in order to go on her own trip around the world.
It remains to be seen what Peach will be doing in the movie, though it’s a safe bet that they won’t relegate her to a mere plot point. Let’s hope for a teaser trailer soon that shows the direction they’re heading in.
Super Mario Bros. will hop, skip and butt-stomp its way into theaters on December 21, 2022.